this is "world news." tonight -- held hostage. day five for that little boy being held in a bunker. the crying. now, the freezing temperatures. tonight, we're on the scene. what does the suspect want? the breaking news. the american mother who vanished overseas. her last text to her husband and sons, "i'll be home tomorrow." tonight, the gruesome discovery. taking aim. the new photo of the president making waves tonight before his big push for tougher gun laws, but is this image any different from past presidents? as far back as jfk. and holy help. on the eve of the super bowl, the numbers on that other player above the field.

will praying for your favorite team actually make a difference? >> you're welcome. good evening on this saturday night. it's great to have you with us. we do begin this evening with that standoff playing out in the small town in alabama. at the center of it all, a little 5-year-old boy, who for five days now has been held under ground in a bunker, pulled off a school bus, out of the front seat where he loved to sit. smiles replaced with reports of cries down below. teams of law enforcement have arrived standing watch. neighbors lighting candles standing vigil. as temperatures are expected to plummet, authorities are saying little about how they could get this boy out. abc's gio benitez. >> reporter: five days into this dramatic standoff, we're learning that hostage-taker jimmy lee dykes has been in constant contact with negotiators.

letting them send things to that little boy held hostage, 5-year-old ethan. through a pipe leading to the underground bunker. >> he's also allowed us to provide coloring books, medication, toys. and i want to thank him for taking care of our child. that's very important. >> reporter: it's unclear what kind of medication, but the boy reportedly has adhd and a form of autism. police don't think that dykes has physically harmed the bo but we know that he has been crying. the bunker has an electric heater. but below the surface, there are near-freezing temperatures. last tuesday, it was just like any other school day. little ethan was sitting in his favorite seat in the front of the bus. >> i looked up. he was threatening to kill us. he said, i'll kill you all. >> reporter: she was on that bus and said that dykes walked in and gave the driver a note. before shooting him dead and

then running off with ethan in his arms. one of dykes' neighbors said that his behavior was so bizarre in the weeks before the shooting that they should have told somebody. >> i regret not warning some of the neighbors of some of his tendencies. and telling them that he's the type of guy that you might need to stay away from. that he could be dangerous in the future. >> reporter: meanwhile, ethan is a boy who loves to be hugged. cindy is like family to him and said that he doesn't know a stranger. if ethan could watch this right now, what would you say to him? >> hang tough, little man. we love you. >> reporter: and tonight, we have learned that ethan's birthday is just next week, so suddenly this new reality so suddenly this new reality could spend his sixth birthday

in captivity. david? >> so many people pulling for a happy ending here. the other developing story tonight, this one involving the american mother who vanished overseas. she had traveled to turkey. she was sending text messages to her husband and two sons back home. we learned tonight that her body has been found. nine people are now being questioned. here's a photograph of her and her two boys. and this is the last image of anyone saw, the surveillance video showing her eating alone at a food court in istanbul. abc's juju chang back on case. >> reporter: a tragic end to what began as the trip of a lifetime for saria sierra. the young mom from new york city who suddenly disappeared while vacationing alone in turkey. they report that her body was discovered today along ancient walls in a poor istanbul neighborhood. she was reportedly stabbed to death.

and nine people held for questioning. her husband. >> i have been married to her for over 14 years. and my love for her is deeper than i have ever for any other individual. >> reporter: tonight, investigators are piecing together every piece of evidence. from her clothes, an extra pair of shoes she was carrying. sierra kept in constant contact with her family while she was away. she planned the trip with a friend who dropped out at the last minute. her final text on january 21st, "i'll be home tomorrow, yay." she cut her trip short because she missed her sons. but when her family went to the airport to pick her up, no sign of her. >> i called united airlines, they stated that she didn't board the flight. >> reporter: turkish police found her clothes, her passports, still in her hotel room. >> i don't like that combination. because that, leads me to believe that someone was able to lure out of the room. >> reporter: then there are those grainy surveillance videos

taken a day before she lost touch. nothing seems amissed when she walks around the mall. eats alone at a food court. >> is there any surveillance of somebody walking in or out at a location? all of those potential leads. >> reporter: leads that can hopefully brings answers for a family now forced to face a very painful loss. juju chang, abc news. >> our thanks to juju tonight. next to the fast-moving developments after that attack at the u.s. embassy in turkey. tonight, the surveillance video of the suicide bomber just moments before the attack and new information on his motive against america. abc's nick schifrin reporting in from turkey. >> good evening. they say the attacker was a 40-year-old with enough explosives to destroy a two-story building. lives were saved thanks to tight security. and the bravery of one man. tonight, new grainy footage of the bomber on state tv.

he belonged to a leftist militant group, it posted photos of him showing off, wearing his suicide belt. for the attack, he disguised himself as a delivery man. just seconds after that video, he entered the embassy's side gate. that's when the security guard realized that something was wrong. he told his colleagues to run away, protecting them, at the cost of his own life. >> sacrificing his life, he saved many others. turks and americans at our mission. so we're profoundly grateful for mustafa's service. >> reporter: today, his small hometown carried him to his grave. they remembered him in silence, as a father, a husband. someone who loved the u.s. and loved his job. he was a beloved member of his community and the u.s. embassy. he worked there for more than 20 years, and today, the ambassador called him a hero. his family told me that his dream was to move to the u.s., he was just six months from that dream.

"the terrorists took him from us," she said. the man who killed him, because the u.s. is intervening in syria, only a few hundred miles from here. embassies across this region are on alert for more attacks. >> nick schifrin, thank you. from egypt this morning, cairo, the video shows riot police hitting a partially clothed protesters and throwing him into a police van. the government is vowing to investigate publicly. but anger over police brutality already inspired that arab spring. tonight, twitter is the latest victim to be a victim of sophisticated internet security attack. the users have been contacted by the company. the company has not said who they suspect. it was just this past week, the "new york times," the washington

post, have all revealed that their computer systems had been breached as well. a white house photo is making headlines tonight showing president obama skeet shooting at camp david last august. it comes just days before he launches a trip for stricter gun laws. there's a long tradition, though, of presidents photographed with shotguns. president jimmy carter. there staring down the barrel of a shotgun at a shooting event. president bush. but tonight, president obama's photo is already causing controversy. and here's abc's reena ninan now. >> reporter: putting to rest skeptics' questions about whether the president fired a gun. this white house photo released today shows him firing at clay pigeons at a gun range at camp david last august. the photo was made public as president obama prepares to campaign for new gun control measures. a trip to minneapolis monday. a state that's worked to improve background checks. the last time we saw the president with anything close to a gun, camp david 2011, a

birthday party for his daughter sasha. >> when he goes to camp david, he goes to spend time with his family and friends. not to produce photographers. >> reporter: but, now, the white house is using the photographer to counter critics who challenged the president to prove that he had fired rifles, something that became the butt of gun jokes. >> does he shoot -- since when does the ability to fire a weapon become a badge of honor, a patriotic achievement? all you need is a finger. >> that's right. actual footage. president obama skeet shooting at the white house. look at this. >> pull! >> reporter: the president first mentioned his skeet shooting in an interview he gave to the "new republic" magazine about gun restrictions. >> look, i understand where you're coming from, i'm not trying to take away your recreational rifles.

>> reporter: today a sad reminder of the gun violence. a march for the 15-year-old, who performed at the president's inaugural festivities. gunned down this week in a random shooting. not clear how often the president goes skeet shooting. the white house hopes by releasing this photo they'll put to rest some of the criticism and turn the debate back on gun control. >> reena, thank you. and gun violence and gun control will be one of the topics on "this week" when george will have an exclusive interview with senate majority leader harry reid. first thing in the morning, right here, on abc's "this week." meantime, a major political scandal in nebraska tonight. the lieutenant governor resigning tonight. a republican married for 29 years, quickly resigned, according to the omaha world herald, after disclosures he made thousands of improper phone calls to four women over the

past four years. in texas, a reward for information leading to whoever gunned down a texas prosecutor. the man who made his name fighting organized crime was gunned down in cold blood. here's abc's mark greenblatt. >> reporter: murder in broad daylight this week of one of texas' toughest prosecuting attorneys. now has a small army of investigators working seven days a week. police say mark hasse was gunned down by one, or perhaps two, shooters. right next to the courthouse. his boss told abc news that he was fearless in putting the woers bad guys behind bars. >> he ran across the baddest guys in this part of the world. >> reporter: prosecutor of 30 years, in dallas, before moving to nearby kaufmann county where he never backed down. >> there's no reason to believe that there wouldn't be someone out there that might have an ax to grind. but certainly this carries it to an extreme.

>> reporter: only deepening the mystery is, a local attorney tells abc that he claimed that he was recently threatened and left the courthouse daily with his gun drawn. but a district attorney says that's not true. >> if he was getting any kind of threat, he would let somebody know so we could do something about it. >> reporter: he's making a pledge now to honor the man known for putting others away by not letting this one get away. mark greenblatt, abc news, new york. >> our thanks to mark tonight. and there's still much more "world news" ahead this tonight -- the new science, the reason why you lose memories while you sleep. and later tonight, praying for your super bowl pick, will it really make a difference? >> thank you, jesus. >> hey, everybody. >> jesus! >> new numbers out tonight, do americans really believe faith

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we have all been there. not enough sleep. your brain gets foggy. your memories. your ability to recall not as sharp. it turns out, not necessarily the amount of sleep you're getting but instead the kind of sleep. but tonight abc's amy robach on what it takes to get those short-term memories into your

brain's long-term hard drive. >> reporter: scientists have discovered what's happening at night may be the key to why memories fade as you age. turns out, it's not how much you sleep but what kind of sleep that may be crucial. it's called slow-wave sleep. the nondream deep sleep that occurs in the first few hours of a sleep cycle. your brain waves are different with higher peaks and valleys. >> that sleep is actually transferring memories from one location within the brain, a short-term location to a long-term location. >> reporter: we have all heard by testing memory by recalling dates and faces. but researchers asked people to memorize ordinary words paired with nonsense words, like false and dipotabia. jump and villened. the theory, that the ability to retain previously unknown information declines with age. can they remember those word pairings after sleep? older patients with less slow wave sleep had a harder time remembering the words. >> if you had bad sleep your memory was a lot worse. if we can improve sleep, we

could actually improve memory. >> reporter: the good news, no matter your age, doctors say there is a way to improve slow-wave sleep and thus your memory. >> exercise. exercise may be specially interesting in relation to this deep sleep. >> amy is with us now. this is really fascinating. during slow-wave sleep, your memories are being moved from the front to the back. >> right. and the problem is, for people who have aged it's a natural process to have atrophy in the front part. it doesn't do a very good job of taking those memories and putting them back in the hard drive where they're stored and be able to be accessed. you mentioned exercise, does the timing of the exercise or kind of exercise matter? >> researchers say it's very important not to exercise close to bedtime because you'll be wired and charged. you won't be able to get any sleep, let alone deep sleep.

>> exercise, but not before bedtime. when we come back -- a quiz for you. what's worth more, the iphone or the new blackberry? to the best vacation spot on earth. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabama, louisiana or florida, they're gonna love it. shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn. bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun.tes. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi. you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert.

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we'll turn now to the "instant index" on a saturday night. what's trending this weekend. starting with quite a hefty price. people are now bidding more than $1700 to get their hands on the new blackberry z10. the new blackberry has been released in the uk, next week in canada, it's unclear when here in the u.s. blackberry has lost a huge share of the market to the iphone in recent years. next up here on the index tonight. groundhog day and pennsylvania's punxsutawney phil didn't see his shadow today, which means an early spring. because it wasn't scared back

into hiding. they have been doing this for 126 years. they have only predicted an early spring 16 times. and on the eve of the super bowl, the famous brothers, each hoping to lead their team to victory. john harbaugh leading the ravens. jim harbaugh with the 49ers. last night here, we told you for the first time ever, two nfl coaches giving a joint press conference before the super bowl and the brothers were asked, have they thought about that bear hug or handshake? that always follows win or lose. >> i have given no consideration to the postgame handshake or bear hug or anything else. i haven't thought about that for one second, jerry. have you, jim? >> i have not. >> simple as that. and if something catches your eye, tweet me at david muir on twitter or find me on facebook. when we come back on the broadcast tonight -- is there one thing left to do to help your super bowl pick?

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for, there are many in this country who believe that the only thing left is a little divine intervention. here's abc's abbie boudreau tonight. >> reporter: even before a hail mary pass is thrown, the fans and the players are praising god on game day. perhaps ray lewis, from the baltimore ravens, is hoping his praying will give his team an edge on super bowl sunday. a new poll suggests that he may be right. 53% of americans believe, "god rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success." >> i got to thank the most important person in my life. thank you, jesus. >> reporter: they may be poking fun at tim tebow and his postgame prayers, in this "saturday night live" skit. >> i'm indeed the reason you won your past six football games. >> reporter: but the survey shows 27% of us think that god plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event. >> for me, it's a great

opportunity in a public platform to get on knee and thank you the lord. >> reporter: does god really care about football? it depends on who you ask. >> no. >> reporter: why? >> because he's big. >> do you think god kearse about what's happening with the super bowl? >> yes. >> what do you think god cares about? >> the animals. the fish. >> reporter: do you think that god will be watching the super bowl tomorrow? >> probably. it's a pretty big game. >> reporter: a big game that will have many people praying that the big guy is on their side. >> if we're going to keep doing this, you guys got to meet me halfway out there. >> reporter: abbie boudreau, abc news, los angeles. "good morning america" and "this week" with george first thing in the morning. if you're watching the super bowl, you can always dvr us. see you tomorrow. good night.